Introduction to Boombear Bros
Boombear Bros is a casino slot from Bullshark Games, following the antics of two mischievous furries with an almost worshipping attitude toward demolition. As it often happens between siblings, sometimes they work together, and other times they're at each other's throats. Harnessing fire and ice to come up with new ways of razing their opponent's fortress to the ground, the bears often clash in the middle, on the board of a 6x6 grid. This is where you come in to benefit from all that destruction by extracting valuable multipliers and generating matching symbols from each explosion. Once set off, Power Bombs can cover various patterns, from vertical and horizontal to crossed, and have a different blast range. If you hold on long enough to reach any of the two Free Spins modes, you'll witness an increased frequency of Power Bombs, as well as their guaranteed spread in all four directions.
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Boombear Bros is a video slot from Bullshark Games with 6 reels, 6 rows, and a cluster-pays win evaluation, requiring 5+ symbols to land orthogonally adjacent. The game offers a wide range of bet options, allowing you to choose your stake from as little as a Min.bet of 0.10 up to a Max.bet of 75. A default RTP of 96.32% runs the game's engine, which falls within the average industry range, although one alternative variant of 94.36% has also been released. Therefore, be sure to verify your version before playing. You'll also experience medium volatility, which should provide an even average balance between rare big wins and more frequent, smaller payouts. The maximum prize achievable within a single spin is 12,000x the bet, while the base hit frequency sits at a rate of 27.3%.
The Boombear Bros' realm is neatly split in half, where the left side blooms with flowers and green grass, while the right side embraces the snowy winter. Each land is guarded by a massive fortress made of stone and wood, equipped with cannons and watchtowers. Even though each part seems to be harnessing an opposite element, the structures are almost identical, but maybe it's not that shocking since they've been raised by like-minded brothers. Surprisingly, both bears stand on the same side, as if a team, so it's not exactly clear if we're witnessing sibling rivalry. The game carries a lighthearted, merry vibe through the cartoonish graphics and an upbeat, whimsical soundtrack, which give the entire confrontation a soft touch. Thanks to the responsive nature of the design, you can try the game on any desktop, smartphone, or tablet.
The paytable consists of two sets of regular symbols that award payouts when you match at least 5 identical instances form a cluster by landing orthogonally adjacent. Among the low-paying symbols, you'll recognise playing card suits, diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades, awarding 10x the bet for a cluster consisting of 27 or more units. Premium icons comprise images of a shield, an armour, goggles, a hammer, and a white bear, bringing payouts ranging from 30x to 60x the bet for clusters of 27+ instances. Additionally, there are Wilds in the form of a brown bear, which substitute for regular symbols and award 100x the bet for independent clusters containing 27 or more symbols. FS Scatters are represented by a crate of bombs.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Boombear Bros?
You can win up to 2,500x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Boombear Bros?
The features are Cell Multipliers, Power Bombs, Bomb Frenzy, Bombs Away Bonus, Maximum Blast Bonus, and Feature Buy.
Cell Multipliers
Cell Multipliers can only be generated as a result of the Fire Power Bomb exploding. Payouts from clusters landing in positions with multipliers benefit from a boost that equals their total additive value. For example, a cluster that produced a win of 5x the bet and landed on cells with multiples of x3, x5, and x8 will award a total win of 80x the bet.
Power Bombs
Fire Power Bombs and Ice Power Bombs can land anywhere on the grid at any point during the game, or they can be added by the Bomb Frenzy feature. Upon landing, they explode, covering between 1 and 5 spaces in any of the horizontal or vertical directions or in a cross pattern.
Fire Power Bomb = adds a multiplier of x2-x10, x15, or x20 to all affected positions. If explosions from multiple Fire Power Bombs overlap, the multipliers are added together. Multipliers are cleared at the beginning of the next spin.
Ice Power Bomb = converts all affected positions into matching regular symbols or Wilds.
Bomb Frenzy
Randomly, when there are no wins and no Power Bombs on the board, the Bomb Frenzy feature may trigger and add between 2 and 5 Power Bombs of any kind to the grid.
Bombs Away Bonus
Gathering 3 FS Scatters anywhere in view at the end of a base game round awards 10 Free Spins. Throughout the game, all generated Cell Multipliers are persistent and don't reset between spins.
Maximum Blast Bonus
With 4 FS Scatters ending up on the board at the same time, you trigger 12 Free Spins. The game maintains all previous mechanics and makes all Power Bombs always explode in four directions. In both modes, each FS Scatter hit awards 1 additional spin.
Feature Buy
The game offers a couple of options to speed up the action with enhanced spins and instant bonus triggers.
3x = Bonushunt Featurespins with a 5-times higher chance to trigger the bonus.
50x = Short Fuse Featurespins, guaranteeing at least 2 Power Bombs to land.
100x = Bombs Away Bonus with 10 Free Spins.
250x = Maximum Blast Bonus with 12 Free Spins.
Final Thoughts on Boombear Bros
Whenever a slot with cell multipliers comes along, the comparison to the unquestionable leader of this mechanism is hard to avoid. Sugar Rush from Pragmatic Play has ushered in the feature back in 2022, and it has been trending massively ever since. Studios have been utilising it in various forms to boost its original attractiveness, and now Bullshark Games has stepped up to the plate. It's not the studio's first attempt either, as previously seen in releases like Gobstopper Grind or Recycle Riches. This time, however, the changes to the gameplay are quite drastic compared to the familiar formula, and while cell multipliers still play the first fiddle, they're not a result of regular winning combinations anymore. Instead, all you need to do is hit a single Fire Power Bomb.
Throughout our testing, we tried to establish if this method of delivery ends up being more engaging and rewarding. Sadly, it wasn't. Even though the producers clearly made an effort to make the frequency of Power Bombs quite high, the results caused by the explosions were hardly satisfying most of the time. Plus, the game loses that seamless synergy of wins, cascades, and multipliers that form the entire appeal of the original format. The second Power Bomb proved to be quite helpful on occasion, but didn't blow any rounds out of the water with its conversions. Bonus rounds with multipliers turned persistent, and Bombs having a bigger radius clearly show more potential, and surprised us positively with some proper hits out of the blue. Altogether, the shift of multiplier source from regular wins to specific symbols didn't feel like a move forward, although we don't deny it may appear as an interesting alternative to all the slots that continuously recycle the primary mechanism.
Boombear Bros experiments with cell multipliers served differently, but ultimately misses some strong element that would compensate for the drawbacks the change brings along.
